"Then why start on me?" asked Notta, scratching his ear and winking at Bob Up. Now that the incident was over it struck him as terribly funny to be perched in a tree conversing with the Cowardly Lion. He wished some of his old pals in the circus could see him. He'd never expect them to believe it otherwise. So Notta and Bob climbed down and the three regarded each other with frank interest.
The Cowardly Lion had never seen a clown and the clown had never seen a Cowardly Lion, so there was much to be explained and accounted for. First, Notta told of their sudden transportation to Mudge, of Doorways, and everything else except Mustafa's determination to have them capture the Cowardly Lion himself. They were on their way, explained the clown, to the Emerald City to see whether or not Dorothy could find a way to send them back to the United States.
"Ozma can do that very easily with her magic belt," said the lion, "but I will go with you, for Oz is full of dangers for mortal folks like you, and Dorothy would not want anything to happen to anyone from her country, I am very sure." He then told them a lot about the marvelous land of Oz, with its four big countries and its many little ones.
"This," roared the Cowardly Lion with a sweep of his paw, "is the Munchkin Country. To the north is the Kingdom of the Gillikens, to the west is the Winkie Country and to the south the Quadling Country, ruled over by the good sorceress, Glinda. But all of Oz is under the rule of Ozma."
Bob's eyes grew rounder and rounder as he told them how Dorothy was first blown to Oz by a cyclone, of her discovery of the Scarecrow, how she had lifted him down his pole and, with the Cowardly Lion and Tin Woodman, traveled to the Emerald City, then ruled over by the Wizard of Oz. Then he told how Ozma, the little fairy ruler, who was the real Queen of Oz, had been found and placed upon the throne. Then came the story of Scraps and Sir Hokus and of Tik Tok, and of every other amazing person living in the amazing Emerald City.
When the Cowardly Lion paused for breath Bob was jumping up and down with excitement. "Oh, I do want to see Dorothy and the Scarecrow! Let's hurry," cried the little orphan, throwing his arms 'round the Cowardly Lion's neck. The kind old Cowardly Lion blinked with pleasure.
"I'm glad you did that," he rumbled in a husky voice, "for now I know that you trust me, and have forgotten all about that unfortunate mistake!"
"But why did you ask if I was brave?" mused the clown, who could scarcely believe that this merry little boy hugging the Cowardly Lion was the same Bobbie Downs who had fallen into Mudge.
"Because," the lion swallowed self-consciously, "because I am looking for the bravest man in Oz."
"What will you do when you find him?" asked Notta, carefully folding up his huntsman suit and powdering his nose with another marshmallow.